Fishing rod joint



Aug 7, 1962 c. M. HARTER 3,048,432

FISHING ROD JOINT Filed Sept. 29, 1958 INVENTOR. c IR M. MBTER BY /uxjb4 u ATTORNEYS United States Patent Orifice 3,048,432 Patented Aug. 7,1962 3,048,432 FISHING ROD JOlNT Clair M. Harter, 13505 interurbain Ave.S., Seattle, Wash. Filed Sept. 29, 1958, Ser. No. '764,045 4 Claims.(Cl. 287-126) This invention relates to improvements in a fishing rodjoint and, more particularly, to a errule for lishing rods and the like.

Fishing rod joints are usually formed of interlitted male and -femalemembers which are assembled and disassembled by slidin-g engagement. Itis imperative that these parts t closely when assembled and it isequally imperative that they may be easily separated when a jointed rodis to be dismantled. Usually the telescoping cylindrical male and femalemembers are formed of drawn met-al tubes shaped and sized to closetolerances -and of minimal thickness to reduce bulk, stillness andweight. Particularly with respect to extremely thin-wall and closefitting members it is dificult to manufacture and to use such rodferrules. Such difficulties involve problems of producing closeintertting in easily deformed thin-metal deep drawn tubes. And assemblyand disassembly is often hindered by high friction developed betweenclosely mated elements and also between less perfectly matched butmisshapen ferrule parts, be they due to incidents of manufacture oraccidents of use.

It is among the more important objects of this invention to providejoint means for a jointed fishing rod which are easy yto assemble anddisassemble manually; which during assembly provides an extremely tightjoint but which may at all times be easily disassembled manually but notaccidentally; which ait'ords in effect a lubricated joint .but actuallyinvolves no lubricant in the normal sense; which is simple and easy toproduce yet will have a long and useful life; which provides between thebasic male and female members a sleeve that affords a degree ofresiliency and removes some of the inherent stiffness of normal rodferrulesg and which does not make more bulky and unattractive the normalsized ferrule joints even though apart is added.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be moreapparent during the course of the following description in which is setforth a preferred embodiment of my invention.

ln the drawings accompanying this specification, and in which likereference numerals refer to like parts throughout the same:

FIGURE l is a fragmentary sectional view of molding equipment used inthe production of my ferrule, portions being omitted for convenience ofillustration;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of my `ferrule, with portions broken away andothers shown in section to show internal arrangement of parts;

FIGURE 3 is a cross section on line 3 3 of FIG- URE 1; i

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the entrant end of thefemale ferrule part; and

FIGURE 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a molded liner used in myrod joint.

Referring to :FIGURE 2, the rod joint comprises the tubular femalesleeve 1li having a resilient liner cup or socket 12 mounted therein,inward from the entrant or adit end. The periphery or mouth of theentrant end of sleeve itl is expanded slightly and rolled over toprovide the concavo-convex collar 16 having an inner groove. Socket cup`12 has an outstanding :bead edge `14 which 4is -seated in the groove incollar 16 to secure the parts against undesired disassembly. Socket 12closely lits the interior of sleeve 1t) along its length.

Cup 12 is formed of `a non-rigid synthetic resin polymer by an injectionmolding method in the apparatus schematically shown in FIGURE l.

A travelling collar 39 receives a blank sleeve 1i) so that the bead 16is seated and supported against distortion. Collar 3l) is mounted in amovable base fixture 32 suitably located in a molding machine (notshown). A male molding pin 34 has ya reduced end 36 and is disposed incantilever fashion on a carrier 33 mounted in conventional fashion toextend into and be withdrawn from sleeve lll. A centering and confiningcup 35 on carrier 33 mates twith collar 36 and surrounds the end ofsleeve lll during molding of the liner 12. Pin 36 has a reduced neck 37on its inner end.

linjection nozzle 38 outstands from the lfront of die plug 4G andreceives the tubular sleeve 10 when the same and its collar is moved, asfrom the right to left in FIGURE l, over it. The free end of nozzle 38during molding is in close proximity to neck 37 to form the bottom ofliner 14.

vPlug dll is mounted at the front of chamber 42 of the machine head 44and is surrounded by the hollow housing 46.

A supply of fluid resin is introduced to the passage 39 of nozzle 38from chamber 42 within head 44. The plastic molding material underpressure, ows through the nozzle passage 39 and `is discharged againstthe reduced end 37 o-f pin 36 whence it flows, during molding around thepin within the confines of sleeve 10 spaced therefrom. As the plasticmaterial reaches the groove of bead 1o it may flash slightly around thepin in the foundation of the interflitt-ing groove-and-tlange couplingthat assists in locking the parts together.

Following molding while sleeve 1li is gripped in holder 3G, pin 36 iswithdrawn. Practically simultaneously pin 36 is likewise withdrawn. Thesleeve 10 is then removed from the holder 36 whereupon the operation maybe repeated.

In use in a fishing rod, sleeve lll is normally fitted t0 a larger rodsection 24, and a smaller rod section has a male ferrule member 2lisecured thereon.. The reduced end 22 closely lits into socket cup 12when the ferrule functions to join the rod sections.

It is preferable that the cup l2 be molded of resilient material havinga smooth low frictional resistance on its inner surface. Additionally itis desirable that, being molded in situ so to speak, the cup 12 adheresto the inner wall of sleeve lll. An ideal material for molding cup 12 isone capable of use without lubricant.

A very useful and desirable material for molding socket cup 12 is a highmolecular weight ethylene polymer solid obtained by polymerizingethylene at high temperatures and pressures. Such polymers areinexpensive, easy to handle and capable of `accurate dimensionalmolding. They need no lubricant for my purpose and because they do notcorrode and are light in weight are generally very ideal liners for aferrule. They are characterized by low shrinkage and by being softenough to receive the soft brass or other `metals Vfrom which ferrulesare formed with searing or scratching.

Broadly the desirable molding compounds for forming cup 12 may bedescribed as non-rigid synthetic resin polymers of which the tradenamesare nylon, polyethylene, and the like. In its preferred form cup 12 hasa bottom wall 18 spanning its inner end.

Socket 12 is preferably slightly smaller in internal diameter th-an theexternal diameter of male member 22 so that when the latter is insertedthe resilient material from which the socket is formed is Slightlycompressed and secure seating of the joint is obtained. For example,assuming a diam-eter X for member 22 the internal diameter of socket 14may be about X-.005. The wall thick- 3 ness of socket 14, since it isexternally supported by sleeve 10, may be about .010 to .015l to avoidbulkiness in the joint and yet provide a long,y and useful lite lfor thesocket.

Sockets 12 formed of a non-rigid ethylene polymer are self lubricated.This aids in the insertion and reimoval of the male member 22 from thesocket and overcomes a common dilcnlty encountered by fishermen whenthey attempt to disassemble their jointed rods.

Many variations of this invention will occur to those skilled in thepertinent art. Those made within the spirit and scope of this inventionas defined by the claims are encompassed herein. l therefore do notlimit myself to the specific embodiment of the invention set forth inthis specication.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A rod joint for sectional fishing rods, comprising: a cylindriormmetallic male lerrule adapted to receive and be attached to a lirst rodsection, `an elongated tubular ferrule sleeve to receive and be attachedto a second rod section to be joined in extension of said first rodSection and having a mouth to loosely receive said male ferrule inmating relation; and a resilient, low-friction, non-metallic socketsleeve securely disposed within said sleeve inward of its mouth, saidsocket sleeve having an internal Ydiameter less than the externalydiameter of said male member.

2. The stru-cure according to claim 1 in which there is an interttinggroove-and-flange couplingr between said resilient sleeve and saidtubul-ar sleeve adjacent the mouth of the latter.

3. The structure according to claim 1 in which the entrant end of thetubular sleeve has an inwardly open annular groove adjacent its mouth,and said resilient socket sleeve has an outstanding member around itsmouth intertting into said groove.

4. The structure according to claim 1 in which the resilient socketsleeve is provided with an integral bottom wall spanning said tubularmember and dividing the same between its ends.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS462,822 Marsters Nov. l0, 1891 467,979 Latulip Feb. 2, 1892 1,262,936Fowler Apr. 16, 1918 1,747,942 Lanninger Feb. 18, 1930 1,786,719 Dippmanet al Dec. 30, 1930 1,871,229 Welch Aug. 9, 1932 2,057,009 Chadwick Apr.16, 1936 2,106,667 Thirly Jan. 25, 1938 2,245,154 McWane lune 10, 19412,546,312 Larymore Mar. 27, 1951 2,664,548 Hall Dec. 29, 1953 2,679,911Bhand .lune l, 1954 2,844,125 Wehn July 22, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS1,084,948 France July 13, 1954

